I have a story concerning 9/11 that I think today is the perfect time to share. On September 11, 2001 I had two all week passes to the 2001 American Express Tournament at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. I decided to take my friend Jay who was a highschool golf team-mate of mine. We arrived for the practice round on Monday at 6:30 in the morning because we wanted to make sure we could get a good view of Tiger and Duval.

We first followed Tiger around the course and there were probably 150-250 people watching. A small crowd for Tiger, even if it was a practice round at 6:30 in the morning. After watching Tiger play the front nine we decided to stop by one of the PGA Store tents to buy a keepsake. While we were looking at the merchandise, a T.V. that was placed in the tent was displaying images of the WTC Tower 1 with smoke coming out of it. We were told by peolpe behind the counter that it appeared a communter plane accidentally collided into the tower. Jay and I were shocked. We knew people had lost their lives but at this point did not know the full gravity of the situation.

We hurried out of the tent and went to the first tee where David Duval was getting ready to start his practice round. The size of the crowd watching David grew a little, I am guessing since it was later in the morning. Jay and I were right next to David for the remainder of the next few holes and in between shots David signed my hat and talked about golf. I asked him if he had heard that the WTC had a commuter plane crash into it. He was aware and said his prayers were with the families of all involved.

On the fifth hole, David hit a beautiful tee shot down the middle and started walking down the fairway. After walking about 200 yards down the fairway, David's caddier tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a cell phone. David got on the cell phone and put his left hand over his open ear so that he could more clearly hear the voice on the other end. David must have been on the phone for close to 10 minutes, which I thought was bizarre for a PGA member to do in the middle of a practice round. After the call ended, David walked over to a group of about 15 of us and said that he had just gotten word that another plane hit the WTC and that the Pentagon had also been hit. We were all in shock and frightened. At this moment I stopped seeing David Duval as the PGA golfer I had idolized my entire golf life and I began to see him as a fellow human who was equally disturbed by what had just occurred.  For the rest of my life when I think of how I learned that America was under attack , the picture of David Duval telling me is in my mind.

David picked his ball up from the fairway and walked towards the clubhouse. Jay and I went into a food tent that had a big screen playing the news, and we were quickly updated on the attacks on America. I looked around me and saw a beautiful golf course, food and drinks over flowing, rich and priveleged people, and celebrity golfers. Something did not feel right, I felt guilty to be safe from harm and in such an extravagent event. Jay and I got in the car and went back to our hometown.

On the way home we listened to the radio and talked about what had happened. We also discussed David Duval, for we were both impressed by the way he acted in front of us prior to and after the attacks. David Duval was a true gentleman and was very compassionate. I recalled to Jay that David came over and in a cracky voice and said that the Pentagon had been hit also and that he just could not continue his round.

This day was supposed to be a glorious day that I would remember for the rest of my life. Instead it turned out to be an agonizing day that I will recall for the rest of my life.  The world changed for me on a golf course in front of David Duval. When he hit his first tee shot, the world was a safe place. When he picked his ball up in the middle of  the fairway, a new terror was realized.

This season my first round draft pick was Kurt Warner. Go ahead, laugh, make fun, tell me I'm an ####. After Kurt I selected Pittsburgh, Jeremy Shockey, Neil Rackers, Dallas, Peyton Manning. The secret to fantasy football is to not follow everyone else and pick one of the top rated rb's with your first couple picks. You need to have the best player at as many positions as possible. Shockey and Rackers, Manning, and Pittsburgh are argueably the best at their respected postions. This gives me a huge advantage every week. I can almost guarantee that my kicker, qb, te, and defense will outpoint my opponent.

Now I know that you are asking "who do you have as your rb's?" Since I did'nt pick a rb until the 6th round I had to pick diamonds in the rough. Kevan Barlow, Mike Anderson, and Cederic Benson are my backs. They may not put up LT are Shaun Alexander numbers, but I am confident that they will keep up with the field close enough that when it comes down to the other positions I will have the opponent smoked.

Fantasy football has been turned into who has the big name running back. Unless you have both Shaun Alexander and LT on your squad do not plan on your rb positon carrying your team. You need to go after the kickers and tes, positions that give you a unique advantage on the field. The fact that I have three excellent QB's (Manning, Warner, and Bledsoe) gives me tremendous leverage in my league because I can trade anyone of those QB's for a great WR or RB.

This season follow these tips and tell me if they help.

1. Draft a kicker, te, and defense/st with your 2,3, and 4 picks

2. Use your first pick to grab the player you think will have the best season regardless of their position, bc in the end you want the best player in as many positions as possible, not just the rb that will score 30 td's.

3. Get as many quality QB's as possible to use as trade bait in the upcoming season.

 

If Texas Hold' em and Nascar are suddenly being recognized as sports according to the media coverage devoted to them, then blogging should be the newest addition. Before people start attacking my comment, please let me justify. Blogging, and doing it successfully, require skill. No doubt about it. There is the occasional #### that puts up a title with the words consisting of sexual connotations just to get people's attention. In the long run, those fake bloggers are discovered and their posts disregarded. To make a successful post, and by successful I mean one that promotes thought and encourages discussion while appealing to the masses, the blogger must produce relevent, witty, interesting, sincere, and unique ideas. People that write blogs about how great Peyton Manning is or why Ron Artest is a bad guy, are simply stating the obvious and not producing any new material.

Blogging does have its physical demands as well. If Texas Hold'em, which physical demands include lifting a player's cards a half an inch to look at their respective hand, then I think that the physical task of typing a 800-1000 word blog in under a half hour, on a weekly to daily basis is a physical acheivement in of itself. The wrists start to ache, the fingers crack, and the eyes become blurry. Do not get me wrong, I am not equating blogging to running a marathon. I am merely stating that if one judges an activity as a sport based on physical merits, than compared to Texas Hold'em, blogging has greater physical demands.

If one judges an activity as a sport based on skill, practice, and teamwork, than blogging has to be considered a sport. Blogging, as I stated earlier, requires skill if it is to provoke thought and produce new ideas. Good blogging also requires practice. The more bloggs one writes, the better their blogs become. Also, blogging is a combination of skills developed and practiced in school as well as from watching Sportscenter. Finally, for a blogger to become fully evolved, teamwork is required.  By teamwork I mean constructive criticism from peers and exchanging of ideas. I learn and work with bloggers on a daily basis. Every comment that is posted on a blog provides a different prospective and adds to the blogs as a whole.

People of the sports universe, blogging is a sport. Whether you accept the fact now or in the future, blogging is slowing becoming more and more popular. I will not be satisfied with the media's coverage of blogging until there is a reality show based on blogging, a daily half hour show on ESPN, and jerseys for all of the world's bloggers that can be purchased at your local Foot Locker.

Has anyone noticed the weight loss and muscle mass loss in Barry Bonds this season? This is in direct correlation with Bond's dramatic slump he is currently in. It is so obvious that the man has gotten off of steroids because of stricter testing and now his numbers are starting to show what a true 41 year old washup can produce. Bonds is simply following suit of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, by quitting the roids before he officially gets caught.

It is just sad that Bonds will break the Babe's record before it is all said and done. Had the MLBA cracked down on steroids in the mid to late 1990's, Bonds would still be trying to pass Reggie Jackson. People can say all they want about the Babe and his records being overrated, but the one thing they cannot say is that the Babe was a cheater. Sadly, Barry Bonds, the cheater, is going to pass one of baseball's most beloved icons.

Since Bonds has quit steroids and stopped cranking homers at an unbeleiveable rate, I do not think he will touch Aaron's record of 755. I believe Bonds will hit about 20-25 homers this season and come back next season trying to break Hank Aaron's record only to be injured in mid-season, and fall short of breaking baseball's most sacred record. Without the assistance of steroids, the normal body of a 41 year old can not take the day to day strain of a regular baseball season. The biggest assistance steroids provided Bonds over the years was not the increased muscle mass, but rather the immunity to injury. It is nice to be able to play healthy season to season when your in your late 30's. If Ken Griffey Jr. would not have been injury strickened the last four seasons, you would probably be watching Junior chasing the homerun record, not Bonds.

I am glad to see Bonds go through this slump and I hope that he finishes his career at this pace. Anyone that cheats to get where they are in life deserves everything unfortunate that happens to them.

John Daly is one of the most likable figures in all of sports. He interacts with the fans, shows warmth and personality, and most of all, he shows that he is human. Fans of Daly, myself included, identify with Daly and enjoy the fact that he does not try to hide his flaws. When I watch Tiger, Vijay, Phil, those guys all seam to be taking manner lessons from the same instructor. Tiger shows charisma, but they all act like robots. They give the same response to every question and never misbehave. Daly on the other hand, just says whats on his mind and does what he wants. However, saying and doing whatever he wants has cost the big guy. Daly has been disqualified from numerous events for disruptive and unprofessional behavior. Daly has also lost millions in endorsements from sponsors dropping him because they did not want to be identified with Daly's image. The latest revelation, is that Daly has confessed to losing $50-60 due to his gambling addiction. Daly has battled addictions before. Daly is an admitted alcoholic that claims to have overcome the addiction because he no longer drinks hard liquor, now he only drinks beer. Daly has also had problems with his weight, and appears to have an over-eating disorder. This too, he claims to have overcome due to the fact that he must keep weight on in order to maintain his normal swing. The drinking and over-eating appear to at least be less than what it was in the early 90's, but his gambling addiction just may get the best of him. I agree with Charles Barkley that Daly is probably over-exaggerating his gambling loss claim by about $40 million. If Daly lost $60 million in gambling he would be living in a tent and in debt for the rest of his life. Even if Daly has "only" lost $20 million, it clearly has cost Daly personally, professionally, and publically. Daly has admitted that the reason he has a tv show, appears in almost every pro am and corporate event, and sells memorobilia from his trailer, is to pay off debt incurred from gambling. Since most of his time is dedicated to raising funds, he is unable to spend time with his family and work on his golf game. Daly refuses to quit gambling and has said that he now is trying to only play $25 slots and set a limit to his losses. The man has clearly let his human desires for alcohol, food, cigarettes, and gambling destroy him. If Daly does not start taking care of himself and stop giving in to his addictions, the man could very well not live to see 50. Daly lives like and rock star and stays true to his motto "Grip it and rip it." John, using golf as a metaphor, you have found yourself on the back nine, several shots from making the cut, on a par five approach shot with water and ob everywhere. You need to put the 3 wood in the bag and just lay up. Cut your losses and try to get back to par. I am a big fan of Mr. Daly, and I want nothing more than to see him get back to winning golf tournaments and smiling, I just hope I live to see it.

The Miami Dolphins once symbolized the perfect team. 1972, 17-0, remember that. Then came Dan Marino, and although he never won the big one he at least made them a contender and rewrote the history books during the process. Now the Dolphins symbolize poor management decisions and wasted talent. Ricky Williams' 1 year suspension is the latest blow to the Dolphins, but it could end up being a blessing in disguise. The Dolphins need to part ways with the troubled back and move forward with Ronnie Brown. Brown is no Ricky Williams, I know, but that has its positives also. For one, the Dolphins won't have to worry about Brown getting high and moving to India. Bringing Ricky Williams to Miami was supposed to rejuvinate the franchise and make up for all those years they had no running game. However, they overcompensated for that and became a team that had no air attack. All the Dolphins could do was hand the ball to Williams 30 times a game and watch one of their lame duck QBs lob 10 passes a game. Now, the Dolphins have made the mistake of bringing another disgruntled former star with a huge contract remaining; Daunte Culpepper. This guy used to be a stud, him and Randy Moss could light up offenses. Notice the key word there; Randy Moss. He does not have Randy Moss anymore, and his stats resemble that. Culpepper is just coming off the worst on the field and off the field season of any QB of recent memory. The guy threw twice as many picks as tds, not to mention he was involved in a boat party that turned into a scene from the Bada Bing Club in the Sopranos. Culpepper never should have been brought over. The Dolphins did not do any better in the draft either. They used their first round pick on a safety. Safety is the most disposable position in the game. You take CBs that have lost their speed and move them to Safety, you do not waste a 1st rounder on one. The only positive aspect of the Dolphins is their linebacker core, which is starting to get up there in age. Junior Seau has been around since the days of Bo Jackson, and Zach Thomas and Taylor are in their 30's. I am sorry Dolphin fans, but the Fletch predicts another pitiful season for the Dolphins. At least the Phins could have tried to sign Ray Finkle at the kicker spot, I heard he is still looking for work.

After breaking the April homerun record previously held by Ken Griffey Jr., Pujols is on pace to smack 91 homeruns this season. The man must be on steroids. However, he is the one man in the MLB that I would bet my life on that is not on steroids. I hope I do not regret saying that, but seriously, how many big leaguers out there are you confident in that are not on steroids. Especially the ones that have already cranked out 10 or more homers. Go down the list; Ortiz, Shelton, Swisher, Thome, Berkman, Lee, Delgado, Dunn, and oh yeah, Pujols. Of this list, only Pujols, Thome, Berkman, and Ortiz have a history of hitting homeruns. Thome does draw a big red flag though, since the man is 120 years old and killing the ball at a rate that surpasses any of his previous career marks. Ortiz was a player that you could count on for 15 to 20 homeruns, but since 2003 he has almost tripled his production. Big Popi seems a little suspect. Shelton, Lee, Delgado, Dunn, and Swisher are not your prototypical steroid figures, but neither was Rafeal Palmeiro. Carlos Delgado has been injury free for the last decade and has seen his performance increase steadily over the years. My bottom line is that the only player that is hitting homeruns and that has done it since he has been in the bigs is Albert Pujols, Maybe others are slow learners, but I question ball players who average 15 homeruns a year for their first 5 to 6 season and then in theur mid 30's start crushing the ball. Maybe I am skeptical and jaded by the past several seasons that have been tainted by roids, or maybe I am just calling it like it is. I would love to see Pujols destroy Bonds' mark of 73 homeruns in a season, in fact, I would love to see him destroy ever false record that has been a product of a needle in some guy's butt.

 

 

Besides being married to the most beautiful nanny I have ever seen, there are a bunch of perks to being Tiger Woods. I will get through the obvious first. He is the best at his profession, now, and maybe of all time. I can only imagine what it would be like to go into my profession everyday and be able to spank my competition at will. The man is so dominant that if he DOESNT win a tournament, that is news. To be the greatest in the world must give someone a tremendous amount of worth, confidence, and oh yeah, money. Lets talk about the man's money. Last year Tiger pulled in a cool $80 million, and his net worth is rapidly approaching the billion mark. How does Tiger enjoy this enormous amount of financial freedom? Easy, he buys toys.

 

This last winter Tiger purchased a $40 million pad. Above is a photo of the mansion, which is planned to be bulled doozed in order to put up a more, fitting, mansion. It is the highest price paid in the Miami area for a piece of residential real estate. In 2004, Tiger shelled out $20 million for some Privacy. This Privacy turned out to be a 155 foot yacht with all the neccesities one might need to go boating; a helicopter pad, a smaller boat to go to the coasts of private islands, a full crew, and several 4 star bedrooms. Turns out privacy isnt free after all.

Tiger does not just spend his money on himself. Tiger created the TW Foundation, which he has personally contributed millions to. This past year, the TW Foundation celebrated the opening of learning center that rivals the sophistication of the Pentagon. Tiger truly is a giving man.

Another perk to being Tiger Woods is the ability to beat that chubby, cocky, whinner, Phil Mickelson. All though Phil has won a couple of Masters, when each man is playing their A game, Tiger always comes away with the win. Phil is the last great white hope, and in the world of golf, people want to see Phil succeed. Well Phil, until you win another 9 majors and another 30 tournaments, I still consider Tiger your daddy.

Tiger, here is to having the most fabulous life of all. Champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

 

Does anyone remember Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Issacc Bruce, #### Vermeil and the rest of the 1999 Rams team that captured America's heart. This team had all the ingredients for a dynasty. A young, Cinderella story of a quaterback, an unparralleled receiving and running supporting cast, a misty eyed head coach that connected to his players, and an offensice guru with silver hair. This was supposed to be the beginning of my generation's Steelers, 49ers, and Cowboys all rolled into one. The team won the Super Bowl that year in convincing fashion and retained all its major players. However, with the departure of #### Vermeil came the entrance of the Mad Max era. Martz guided the Rams to a Super Bowl. A Super Bowl that ended up being one of the biggest modern day upsets. It was on this day that Kurt Warner and the Rams died and Tom Brady and the Patriots were born. I blame the media and citizens as much as the Rams front office for the Rams demise. Afterall, it was the St. Louis media and citizens that turned their back on the very team that it embraced when it was winning games and being called the "Greatest Show on Turf." Kurt Warner was immediately labeled a has been, Mike Martz a hot head, and the Rams defense a joke. However, had St. Louis simply given the Rams a little more time to use its vast array of talent, something special might have occured in the Edward Jones Dome. Kurt Warner did and the gang did not just get lucky for three years, they were studs. One bad game turned the team into expendables. The memories, potential, awards, eveything, was over. I still live in the St. Louis area and still attend Rams games and I greatly miss being able to claim pigskin supremacy. Gone are the days of Warner to Faulk. Gone are the days of not just winning, but winning by 30 points. Now all that's let is some guy from Miami that has no experience, a quaterback that has never filled the cleats of his predecessor, and a town that is looking for the next Cinderella.

I know that steroids, as a topic, is old. However, I can not stop thinking about its impact on the world of sports, and most importantly, this country. Think what the world would be like had steroids never been invented. I imagine that the average NFL lineman would still weigh close to 275, not 375. I also imagine that half of the world's track and field records would be erased. Baseball would not even resemble itself. Barry Bonds would be a "good" player, Jose Canseco a minor league wash-up, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa would have nothing in common, Ken Griffey Jr. would finally be recognized as the greatest slugger of the 1990's, and Rafael Palmeiro would be one of baseball's most loved ambassadors, not the Bill Clinton of baseball. Unfortunatley, steroids does exist. Steroids represents cheating, a short-cut, greediness, all things un-American. I remember watching Rocky IV as a child and seeing Ivan Drago, the Russian/ Apollo-killer/ steroid abuser, represent the dark side. Rocky played by the rules, did'nt dope and in the end beat the living day lights out of Drago. I fear that today's sports world has become more like Ivan Drago, than Rocky Balboa. Few individuals seem willing to play by the rules and attain success the old fashion way. People want the quick fix and instant gratification that steroids provides. I do not believe every professional athlete uses steroids. There still are the Albert Pujols' and Tom Bradys' of the world. These type of guys hit home runs and throw touchdowns and do it all with a smile and have earned their success. I end this blog with a parody of my favorite commercial. I salute you Mr. Non-Steroid user. You put in the long hours in the gym to acquire the subtle, yet sculpted body that produces your deserving accomplishments. Your head has not grown 4 hat sizes in the last year, your face has not begun to resemble a 13 year old's. You play by the rules and watch as others break the rules. So sit back Mr. Non-Steroid user and enjoy  your dignity and self respect, because for you unlike many others, you can hold your head up high and know that your accomplishments are real and hard-earned.